The Dark Hearts Trilogy: James and Victoria
by Allebasii
Summary: This is the story of James; the hunter and villain of Twilight.  But why is it he is the villain? Because he follows his instincts? He is only seen as evil, when you compare him to the Cullen's, isn't he? it's up to you to find out. rating may change.
1. A tragic Past

Ok people, this is one of the first stories I have ever written that follows the books. This is the first book in my "Dark Hearts" trilogy. This is the story of James; the hunter and villain of Twilight. But why is it he is the villain? Because he follows his instincts? He is only seen as evil, when you compare him to the Cullen's, isn't he?

**And Victoria? How is she evil? Imagine if a vampire killed Bella. What would Edward do? He would either kill that vampire, or make them suffer as he did by killing their mate, and then (of course) he would kill himself after getting his vengeance.**

** This is the tale of the three nomads, from when they meet, to their untimely deaths in the twilight saga. I will follow the books with out embellishment, except where I see fit.**

** No matter how much I come to love them, they will all meet the same fate as in the books. There will be nothing changed.**

**Disclaimer: Obviously I do not own twilight. That should be obvious.**

**The Heart of Everything: book one: James.**

**Chapter one: A tragic past.**

My name is James Lightner, and I was turned into a vampire on March 5th, sometime in the 1800's. Since I do not look back on my human memories, most of them have faded. All but the face of my creator: pale face, mischievous ruby eyes, straight black hair, and robes as black as midnight.

I remember the change perfectly. The fire. The _burning._

I remember my first years as a vampire.

I remember wandering the forest, searching; looking; for _anything_ that would soothe the burning in my throat so painful I could have screamed from the agony of it.

I remember finding a small cabin in the woods as soon as I thought of looking for civilization. I did not know yet what I was; that it was blood I thirsted for; that I had a tracking ability. That I would soon become a murderer.

Inside the cabin, a family of five slept soundly in the night. Their peaceful sleep did not last long; as soon as I scented their blood and heard the tantalizing sound of their hearts, I went into such a frenzy that I'm still not sure what happened.

When I left, the house was in smoking ruins.

I remember finally going home after two years of wandering and feeding, knowing that the blood of my mother Elaina and my younger sister, Evangeline, would call to me as surely as that of the family I first killed and all my subsequent victims.

I remember that my father, Jack Lightner, who had been drunk most of the time, had abandoned my mother and me when she was pregnant with Eva, and that he had gone off with his mistress to some remote land in search of riches.

After that, my mother became deeply depressed, and as soon as Eva was born she ignored us both utterly. I ended up practically raising little Eva by myself.

I remember finding my old home effortlessly, even after two years of being away, wandering the woods and towns in search of prey, and the meaning of my existence. Again, I still had no idea that I had the ability to track.

As I stood in a large tree, trying to pluck up the courage to descend to the front door to knock, I was shocked to hear the deep throaty laugh of a man. Listening closely, I heard my mother's voice and knew that she had not moved. It seemed my mother had remarried in the two years that I was gone.

Then I heard a noise I never expected.

It was the sound of an infant's laugh.

The shock of it was made me do what I did; I still regret that to this day. Instead of going to the front door and knocking, I jumped from the tree and scaled the wall, climbing into the second story window after ascertaining that no one was currently in the room.

Creeping stealthily down the hall, I peered into the room that the laugh had come from and saw an incredible sight: my mother, sitting on her bed was playing peek-a-boo with a young girl of maybe two years of age. It seemed as soon as I had disappeared my mother had found another husband, probably forgetting about me entirely.

And to see her playing with this child! To see her playing as she had never had with my darling sister Evangeline or me. This child, who I knew nothing about, except that she was the daughter of the man I had spied through the downstairs window!

The girl giggled again, and my mother laughed with her. An insane jealousy filled me; how was it, that my mother could play with this child, when her first daughter had to be raised by her son? How dare she, act as if she had not a care in the world, when two years ago, she had ignored her own children, leaving them to defend themselves!

Suddenly, I felt a fear that washed all other feelings from my mind. Evangeline! Where was she? I had not seen her, not heard her, at all since I had come across this house!

A panic overwhelmed me. And throwing caution to the wind, I stepped into the room soundlessly, flashing to my oblivious mother's side. The young girl stopped giggling and stared over my mother's shoulder, wide eyed. She had seen me.

Reaching out my ice-cold hand, I had snatched the girl from my mother's arms before she could react. "Where is she!" I hissed and my mother gave a little shriek and whirled around, only for the blood to drain from her face when she laid eyes upon her long lost son.

"James? Is that you?" she gasped, her eyes wide. Instead of answering, I snarled loudly, and tightened my grip on the girl who had started to cry. My mother's eyes shot to the girl and for the first time fear showed in her eyes. "James! What are you doing! Put her down!"

"Tell me where Eva is! What have you done to her!" I shouted and below I heard the man—my _stepfather_! —Stop moving, and then begin to run up the stairs. At the sound of my sister's name, my mother lost all the remaining blood in her face before she whispered; "I thought you knew…" hoarsely, so low that even with my immortal's ears I could barely hear.

"Jack, he came back, looking for us. When he found me with Gabriel, he-he got mad, and he took Eva and he—he killed her!" she wailed just as the man, Gabriel came charging through the door. Seeing his crying daughter in a stranger's fierce grip, he rushed foreword to try to pry his daughter from my hands only to have her fall right into his arms.

I was frozen. Horrified. Eva…was…dead? No, that wasn't possible! But I felt the first dawning of awareness in my mind. And somehow, I knew it was true. Somehow, I knew she was gone, my beloved sister! My Evangeline! A low sob tore up my throat, before the first beginnings of rage took over.

Everything was a red haze before my eyes as I stalked over to where my mother was, huddled with her new husband and daughter. "Where is he?" I spat, uncontrollable tremors rocked down my spine as I fought not to scream in rage and despair; fought not to tear this house to pieces.

"Why? You can't go after him! He'll kill you!" my mother said desperately, and for the first time in my life I could see concern for me in her eyes. But it didn't matter. She had had her chance, and she had wasted it. I laughed, a loud, wild, maniacal sound that made goose bumps appear on the humans' flesh.

Caught in the heat of my rage, I only realized now just how thirsty I was, and what did I care about the mother who had abandoned me, and the girl who had taken my place? Or the man my mother loved more than her own children?

Not even consciously deciding to act, I reached out and at vampire speed, snatched the girl once again from the arms of my mother, and brought her neck to my mouth. The girl's blood was the sweetest I had ever tasted, and as I was drinking, the only sound that reached me was my mother and stepfather's terrified voices, crying out for the girl: "Bella!"

And NO, the girl is NOT Bella Swan! Just to clear that up…ok, people, 20—that's right, 20! Reviews or I don't update! Kapish? (Apparently, that's how it's spelled, I thought it was spelled capesh!)


	2. The Hunt Begins

**Chapter 2: The Hunt Begins.**

**Previously:**

_Not even consciously deciding to act, I reached out and at vampire speed, snatched the girl once again from the arms of my mother, and brought her neck to my mouth. The girl's blood was the sweetest I had ever tasted, and as I was drinking, the only sound that reached me was my mother and stepfather's terrified voices, crying out for the girl: "Bella!"_

When I finally left the now empty-of-the-living house, the sky was lightening, the sun starting to rise. When I noticed this, I quickly went into the woods and dug a hole deep into the ground, which I then climbed into and piled the dirt back onto me.

A makeshift grave.

I did not yet know that the sunlight would not burn me; I had only traveled and fed at night, lying in caves or graves (such as the one described above) during the day to shield me from the light of the sun.

There were a lot of things about vampires that I did not know then, as I had had no one to teach me; I thought that crucifixes would burn me, that I could not enter a home without being invited. My explanation about how I had sneaked into the cabin and my old house was that a window had been open in both cases.

I obviously considered that an invitation.

I also had no idea how to make another vampire. All I knew were the myths and legends. Most of the legends said something about an exchange of blood. But I had no blood, at least not that I knew of.

All throughout the day I wondered: how would I find my father? I knew I could track by scent, but there had been none at the house other than my mother's and my step-family. I'd have to work with a cold trail, it was not an easy thing to do for a mortal; and the same held true for an immortal such as myself.

Then when I had gotten bored of thinking of my dirt-bag of a father, the one thing I had not been able to comprehend earlier in the night came unbidden to my mind.

My sister, my beloved angel, my Evangeline, was dead, gone forever.

The grief that I had tried to shield my mind from earlier suddenly and abruptly washed over me with the force of a tsunami, leaving me gasping tear-less sobs and clawing at the dirt around me in my despair.

As the hours passed, my grief slowly turned into such a burning hatred for my father that I could barely stop myself from bursting from the earth at that moment and hunting him down.

Slowly the hours dragged by and from an almost unnoticeable darkening under the earth, I knew the sun had set.

An evil smile spread across my face; it was time for the hunt.


End file.
